Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Taking a state purely at random--Oklahoma.

Random, huh? /eyeroll

We're seeing public officials who have pushed to reopen, afraid to admit they made a mistake. It's like they're mimicking the behavior of someone they admire to the point of worship, but I can't think of the Individual One might blame for that. Huh. In any event, day after day we see increasing case counts across the country, while NYState seems solely responsible for keeping the deaths sub-1000.

I do hope whatever minor safeguards Trump's rally vaguely suggested took hold, but based purely on pictures so far, there's few masks and no social distancing. We'll find out in 2-3 weeks what happens. I don't want anyone to get sick or injured from their own stupidity, nor do I want anyone sick or injured from someone else's stupidity.

[Thepersona]

I do hope whatever minor safeguards Trump's rally vaguely suggested took hold, but based purely on pictures so far, there's few masks and no social distancing. We'll find out in 2-3 weeks what happens. I don't want anyone to get sick or injured from their own stupidity, nor do I want anyone sick or injured from someone else's stupidity.

10 days. We need 10 days to start seeing the effects of coronapalooza (from people who develop the symptoms at the earliest, so about 2-4 days, plus a week for the test coming back positive). After that, we'll possibly see a super spreader event, with 100s of more dead people in a month or 2

[Breccia]

We may very well be seeing 200k+ deaths in the US after all.

I've been trying to model the current state of affairs and extrapolate with an exponential decay. The results...suck, the r-value I get wouldn't be trusted to know which way was west at sunset, but if I were to use them anyhow we'd have 150k dead by the end of August, when the deaths finally become "only" a few dozen a day.

These figures assume no second wave, and I stopped at the end of August because school starts up again. I'm not ready to make either of those predictions -- even with a shitty model.

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Ladies and gentlemen, an official release from the White House.

The Government intends to hold Bolton to the further requirements of his agreements and to ensure that he receives no profits from his shameful decision to place his desire for money and attention ahead of his obligations to protect national security

I would like our resident Trump supporters to answer the following. I'll give them 48 hours, they're probably at the rally.

1) Do you condemn anyone, no matter who that is, who puts money and attention ahead of their obligations to this nation's security? Think very hard before answering.

2) Why didn't the White House call for Bolton's arrest? Or, you know, just arrest him? Isn't spilling classified info something you go to jail for?

Forty-eight hours, or else not only do you admit cowardice by refusing to answer, but I get to answer for you.

[Breccia]

Sometimes, I find something so rich with irony, I want to re-roll as a blacksmith.

Six Trump campaign staffers test positive for coronavirus ahead of Tulsa rally.

Hopefully they were caught and separated before infecting anyone else. But holy fucking shit you had one job!

[Thepersona]

Yeah, I was just about to post this. I don’t find it ironic though, just tragic. Thousands of people are about to risk their health so they can cheer for fascism.

Eh... i dont give a fuck about them, they can get sick and die if they want to masturbate their dear leader. The only people i care about are the innocent bystanders that these living beings will infect because of their stupidity

[Breccia]

I don’t find it ironic though, just tragic.

You don't find it ironic that Trump forced everyone to sign a waiver, then brought a literal six-pack of the virus to the rally after claiming it was safe? Maybe "ironic" isn't the right word. Hypocritical? Reckless? Fat orange dumb fuck?

Incidentally, the tests were done hours ago. Meaning they were done on-site, where Trump admitted people have been lining up. I suppose it is possible these six didn't come in contact with any other staffers, but I'm like 99% sure that if you were infected a few hours ago, you wouldn't test positive yet. Hopefully, this also means they aren't contagious until after the packed crowd breaks up and everyone goes home.

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By the way, if people don't know what the "blue slip" rule is, this CNN article lays it all out. Essentially, if you nominate an AG and the Senators of that state disagree, the nomination more or less stalls out. And before some of y'all use terms like "at the pleasure of the President" let me remind you, Obama was in charge for eight years. Imagine if he fired every Southern AG and replaced them with a Chicago liberal. True, judges have some discretion on cases, but only on cases that reach them. Prosecutors decide which cases to follow. They have discretion to say "I don't think we could get a conviction, drop the case". A judge can't overrule a non-case.

Be careful what checks and balances you want to abolish just before an election that your side's losing. Don't forget: the Senate is up for grabs. If you really want to see that rule abolished, it might be a while before you can change your mind.

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Hoo boy. @Benggaul should probably see this.

This CBS News article about Florida's spike has this extra info:

Experts at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania said this week the state has "all the markings of the next large epicenter." They singled out Texas, Arizona and the Carolinas as other concerning states with high levels of community spread.

Their report said the risk in Florida "is the worst it has ever been in our projections."

It also says that the entire MLB has fled the state.

Florida is between Pakistan and Indonesia for number of reported deaths.

[PhaelixWW]

Welp, in a move that should surprise nobody, Barr has gone crying to Mom.

CNN: Trump has fired Berman, Barr says

Attorney General Bill Barr said Saturday that President Donald Trump has fired Geoffrey Berman, the powerful US attorney for the Southern District of New York who has investigated a number of associates of the President.

"Because you have declared that you have no intention of resigning, I have asked the President to remove you as of today, and he has done so," Barr wrote in a letter to Berman. "By operation of law, the Deputy United States Attorney, Audrey Strauss, will become the Acting United States Attorney, and I anticipate that she will serve in that capacity until a permanent successor is in place."

[Belize]

Welp, in a move that should surprise nobody, Barr has gone crying to Mom.

CNN: Trump has fired Berman, Barr says

Trump just said he wasn't involved.


Barr needs to be disbarred *badum tsh*

[Breccia]

Welp, in a move that should surprise nobody, Barr has gone crying to Mom.

So it's now official that Trump has fired someone investigating him.

[Levelfive]

Welp, in a move that should surprise nobody, Barr has gone crying to Mom.

CNN: Trump has fired Berman, Barr says

Apparently Barr first tried to get him to take a different position if he would agree to leave this one:

"On Friday, Mr. Barr came to New York to meet with senior New York Police Department officials and, after nearly a month of public protests, to talk with them about “policing issues that have been at the forefront of national conversation and debate,” according to a Justice Department news release.

When he later met with Mr. Berman, according to two people familiar with the conversation, Mr. Barr suggested that Mr. Berman could take over the civil division of the Justice Department if he agreed to leave his position in Manhattan.

But Mr. Berman declined, and Mr. Barr quickly moved to fire him, announcing his decision in a highly unusual late-night Justice Department news release. Hours later, Mr. Berman issued a counterstatement denying he was leaving."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/n...ired-sdny.html

I was going ask rhetorically what excuse they'll give for firing him since they can't really claim incompetence, but then I remembered nothing matters.

[solinari6]

Welp, in a move that should surprise nobody, Barr has gone crying to Mom.

CNN: Trump has fired Berman, Barr says

That's actually good news. (Assuming it's real, Trump just said he had nothing to do with it LOL).
If the guy resigns, they get to appoint their own temp person.
If the guy is fired, the next in line in succession gets the job until a senate approved person can get it.

[Levelfive]

That's actually good news. (Assuming it's real, Trump just said he had nothing to do with it LOL).
If the guy resigns, they get to appoint their own temp person.
If the guy is fired, the next in line in succession gets the job until a senate approved person can get it.

Can you link to that? I just want to see it for myself.

[Breccia]

The best part of Barr's letter:

While we advised the public that you would leave the U.S. Attorney’s office in two weeks, I still hoped that your departure could be amicable

Maybe if you had talked to him first? Sure sounds like he didn't know he was resigning. Or did you expect someone to react positively when they find out via the news that they were "resigned" without their permission?

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Can you link to that? I just want to see it for myself.

Barr said that.

By operation of law, the Deputy United States Attorney, Audrey Strauss, will become the Acting United States Attorney, and I anticipate that she will serve in that capacity until a permanent successor is in place

The full letter is here

[Belize]

So it's now official that Trump has fired someone investigating him.

Not quite.

We don't know if he's fired or not, considering Trump denied any involvement. Therefore, Trump denies firing the attorney.

[Levelfive]

The best part of Barr's letter:



Maybe if you had talked to him first? Sure sounds like he didn't know he was resigning. Or did you expect someone to react positively when they find out via the news that they were "resigned" without their permission?

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Barr said that.



The full letter is here

I meant the part about Trump saying he had nothing to do with it.

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Trump just said he wasn't involved.

Can you link to this?

Nvm found it: https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1274435848658759681

[Breccia]

Trump denies firing the attorney.

I don't believe that. But Barr clearly does.

If Trump chooses to make that the public story, so will Berman, Grassley, Graham, etc. Barr can push forward by showing he has documentation from Trump, which of course would make Trump a public liar.

So let's say...24 hours before What He Meant Was kicks in, and Trump either personally or by proxy admits he actually fired Berman and bu "not involved" he meant to say "Barr asked me to do it and I agreed without realizing Berman was investigating me and my friends".

Sound good?

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I meant the part about Trump saying he had nothing to do with it.

"Well, that’s all up to the attorney general. Attorney General Barr is working on that,” Trump said on the South Lawn ahead of his departure for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “That’s his department, not my department. But we have a very capable attorney general so that’s really up to him. I’m not involved."

https://ktvz.com/politics/2020/06/20...man-barr-says/ and others.

EDIT: Wanna see the video?

[Belize]

I don't believe that. But Barr clearly does.

If Trump chooses to make that the public story, so will Berman, Grassley, Graham, etc. Barr can push forward by showing he has documentation from Trump, which of course would make Trump a public liar.

So let's say...24 hours before What He Meant Was kicks in, and Trump either personally or by proxy admits he actually fired Berman and bu "not involved" he meant to say "Barr asked me to do it and I agreed without realizing Berman was investigating me and my friends".

Sound good?

I don't think Barr got a physical record of Trump firing the DA, otherwise the letter saying Trump is firing him would have been signed by Trump, not Barr.

I think Barr got a phone call.

And more importantly I think Trump is denying involvement because of how Barr phrased it. "I asked Trump to fire you and he did" doesn't make Trump the boss. It makes him a submissive bitch in the public eye. That won't fly.

[Breccia]

So, yeah, the incompetence of this administration has put them at odds with themselves.

If Trump doesn't say "I fired Berman" and Berman doesn't resign, Berman is still AG.

If Trump does say "I fired Berman" then as Barr says, the Deputy takes over.

I don't see a third option.

[Xyonai]

So, yeah, the incompetence of this administration has put them at odds with themselves.

If Trump doesn't say "I fired Berman" and Barman doesn't resign, Berman is still AG.

If Trump does say "I fired Berman" then as Barr says, the Deputy takes over.

I don't see a third option.

Honestly Trump thoughtlessly undermining his Stooge's schemes and talking points by being unable to shut his mouth isn't anything new. But we're likely not going to get a straight answer from Trump himself until his rally has concluded.

[Levelfive]

I don't believe that. But Barr clearly does.

If Trump chooses to make that the public story, so will Berman, Grassley, Graham, etc. Barr can push forward by showing he has documentation from Trump, which of course would make Trump a public liar.

So let's say...24 hours before What He Meant Was kicks in, and Trump either personally or by proxy admits he actually fired Berman and bu "not involved" he meant to say "Barr asked me to do it and I agreed without realizing Berman was investigating me and my friends".

Sound good?

EDIT: Wanna see the video?

Yeah, I finally managed to find it, but I appreciate it. So it seems like they also did an end run around Graham being able to hold up any confirmation. I have run out of creative ways to say Bill Barr is the biggest, shittiest piece of shit-stained shit on the planet.